Brand Luther (Paperback)

A REVOLUTIONARY LOOK AT MARTIN LUTHER, THE REFORMATION AND THE BIRTH OF PUBLISHING

A ground-breaking study on the 'brand' of Luther, released with the 500th anniversary of the Reformation in mind.

When an obscure monk named Martin Luther tacked his 'theses' on the door of the Wittenberg church in 1517, protesting corrupt practices, he was virtually unknown. Within months his ideas spread across Germany, then all of Europe; within years their author was infamous, responsible for catalysing the violent wave of religious reform that would come to be known as the Protestant Reformation and engulfing Europe in decades of bloody war. Historian Andrew Pettegree illustrates Luther's great gifts not simply as a theologian, but as a communicator - indeed, as the world's first mass-media figure; its first brand.

Luther recognized in printing the power of pamphlets, written in the colloquial German of everyday people, to win the battle of ideas. With businessman Lucas Cranach he created a product that spread like wildfire. Soon Germany was overwhelmed by a blizzard of pamphlets and the Reformation itself would blaze on for more than a century.

Publishing in advance of the Reformation's 500th anniversary, Brand Luther fuses the history of religion, printing and capitalism - the literal marketplace of ideas - into one enthralling story, revolutionising our understanding of one of the pivotal figures and eras in all of human history.

About the Author

Andrew Pettegree is a professor of modern history at the University of St. Andrews, where he was the founding director of the St. Andrews Reformation Studies Institute. He currently serves as the vice president of the Royal Historical Society. His previous books include The Invention of News (Yale, 2014) and The Book in the Renaissance (Yale), which was a New York Times Notable Book of 2010.

Dimensions: 14 x 2.09 x 21.4 cm